File photo: Takehiro Sato speaks during an interview with Reuters at the central bank in Tokyo September 26, 2012. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

Prolonged economic stagnation has pushed down long-term inflation expectations to around zero percent, and it is not easy to raise them even through massive monetary stimulus if monetary policy is the “only game in town,” Sato said in a speech at Yale University on Tuesday.

“Given that monetary policy on its own has limited effects, it is vital to make steady efforts, such as through labor market reform ... to change Japan’s conservative inflation expectations,” Sato said in the text of his speech posted on the BOJ’s website on Wednesday.

Japanese companies and labor unions have traditionally prioritized job security over pay rises, a practice that has restrained wage increases and worked to push down long-term inflation expectations, Sato said.

By changing such practices and increasing job flexibility, Japan can boost labor productivity and potential growth. That would, in turn, increase corporate profits and household income, helping to accelerate inflation and strengthen the effect of monetary easing, he said.

“Given that there is an increasing sense of labor shortage caused by Japan’s population decline, now is an ideal time to take a step forward in labor market reform,” Sato said.